Cargo container hinge construction



Nov. 25, 1969 M. E. HULL CARGO CONTAINER HINGE CONSTRUCTION 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 18, 1967 "IIIHHHHHHH m INVENTOR. MlLTON E.HULL.

Nov. 25, 1969 M. E. HULL 3,479,583

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M. E. HULL CARGO CONTAINER HINGE CONSTRUCTION Nov 25, 1969 3Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 18, 1967 INVENTOR. MILTON E. HULL BY Z a ATT'OE IQ EYS United States Patent US. Cl. 16128 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A cargo container hinge in which the hinge butt hasconfronting laterally extending members spaced longitudinally from oneanother, the hinge plate includes a barrel portion lying between theconfronting members and being spaced longitudinally from eachconfronting member, and the pintle projects longitudinally from each endof the barrel portion, each end of the pintle being received within abarrel member which is secured to the hinge butt adjacent a confrontingmember such that the pintle, the hinge plate and the barrel members arelocated between the confronting members of the hinge butt. The barrelmembers may be released from the hinge butt, but are not readilyreleased so that the pintle is thus securely captivated between theconfronting members but can be removed by release of the barrel membersfrom the hinge butt.

The present invention relates generally to hinge constructions andpertains, more specifically, to cargo container hinges.

Cargo containers, by the nature of their use, are subjected to a greatdeal of handling and are thus partiularly susceptible to damage as aresult of externally applied forces. The walls of such containers areoften dented, twisted or otherwise deformed or broken as a result ofabuses during handling and transportation. In those containers whichhave hinged access doors, the hinge structure is likewise subjected tosuch abuse and component parts of the hinge may suffer similar damage.Hence, it would be advantageous to have available a hinge constructionwhich can either withstand such abuse or in which damaged componentparts may be replaced with relative case.

In addition, cargo containers are often subjected to vandalic acts ormay be broken into for purposes of theft and it would be advantageous tohave a hinge construction which is not easily damaged or dismantled, yetwhich can be dismantled, when necessary, to replace damaged portions ofthe container or the hinge.

It is therefore an important object of the invention to provide aruggedly constructed cargo container hinge which can withstand abuse,yet which can be dismantled, when necessary, for the replacement ofdamaged component parts of the hinge or of the cargo container itself.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cargo container hingewhich can be dismantled without destruction of the component parts ofthe hinge, yet is not so easily dismantled as to encourage vandalism orthievery.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cargo container hingewhich is simple in configuration and construction, yet will withstandthe rigors of service and is economically fabricated of relatively highstrength materials.

The above objects, as well as further objects and advantages, areattained by the invention which may be described briefly as a cargocontainer hinge comprising a hinge butt having confronting laterallyextending means spaced longitudinally from one another, a hinge plateincluding at least a portion having a longitudinal extent betweenextremities less than the longitudinal spacing of the laterallyextending means of the hinge butt, a pintle associated with the portionof the hinge plate and having ends projecting longitudinally from theextremities of the portion, a barrel member juxtaposed with eachextremity of the portion of the hinge plate and receiving the projectingends of the pintle, and means locating and securing each barrel memberupon the hinge butt with the barrel members and the pintle lying betweenthe laterally extending means to captivate the pintle between theconfronting laterally extending means such that the pintle may beremoved by release of the barrel members from the hinge butt.

The invention will be more fully understood and further objects andadvantages thereof will become apparent in the following detaileddescription of an embodiment of the invention illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, wherein: 1

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a cargo container employing hingesconstructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of one of the hinges;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the hinge viewed in the direction of thearrow in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of thehinge; and

FIGURE 8 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge illustrating thecomponent parts thereof.

Referring now to the drawing, a cargo container 10 is illustrated inFIGURE 1 and is seen to have a top wall 12 and side walls 14 to whichare hinged access doors 16. Located within notches 18 in the side walls14 are hinges 20 which mount the doors 16 to the respective walls 14.

Each hinge 20 is constructed in accordance with the invention and isaffixed to a wall 14 as by welding the hinge butt 22 of the hinge 20 tothe wall along the perimeter of the notch 18. A hinge plate 24 ismounted for pivotal movement with respect to the hinge butt 22 and isaffixed to a door 16 by fasteners, such as rivets 26, which pass throughapertures 28 (see FIGURE 2) in the hinge plate 24 and extend into thedoor. It will be noted that the recessed mounting of the hinge butt 22provided by the notches 18 serves to protect the hinge butt againstdirect blows aligned parallel to the pivotal axis of the hinge.

Turning now to FIGURES 2 through 8, hinge 20 is seen to have a hingebutt 22 in the form of a unitary body which includes a mounting base 30and laterally extending means in the form of integral opposite end walls32 projecting from the mounting base and being perpendicular thereto andspaced longitudinally from one another to establish longitudinallyspaced parallel confronting surfaces 34.

The hinge plate 24 is also unitary and is provided with a portion in theform of barrel 36 integral with the hinge plate at one end thereof andhaving opposite end extremities 38 spaced apart longitudinally adistance less than the longitudinal spacing of confronting surfaces 34.The barrel 36 has a longitudinally extending bore 40 running from oneextremity 38 to the other, within which bore are located a pair ofbushings 42.

A pintle 44 is associated with the barrel 36 and passes through the bore44, the pintle 44 having an external diameter corresponding to theinternal diameter of the bushings 42 so that the hinge plate can pivotupon the pintle. The pintle 44 is longer than the bore 40 and is locatedso that the opposite ends 46 of the pintle project longitudinally beyondthe respective opposite extremities 38 of the barrel 36.

In order to assemble the pintle 44 with the hinge butt 22 so that thehinge plate 24 may pivot with respect to the hinge butt, a pair ofbarrel members 50 are juxtaposed with the extremities 38 of the barrel36 and the barrel members 50 are provided with openings 52 which receivethe projecting ends 46 of the pintle 44. Means are provided for locatingand securing each barrel member 50 in place upon the hinge butt 22 asfollows: Each barrel member 50 is in the form of a U-shapedconfiguration (see FIG- URES 4, 6 and 8) having a groove 54 extendinglaterally into the barrel member 50 and longitudinally along the barrelmember from end to end thereof. A complementary tongue 56 (see FIGURES4, 6 and 8) is provided integral with the hinge butt 22 at each of theconfronting surfaces 34 of the end walls 32, each tongue extendingperpendicular to the mounting base 30 and perpendicular to thecorresponding confronting surface 34 such that upon engaging each tongue56 with the complementary groove 54 in a barrel member 50, the pair ofbarrel members will be accurately located between the end walls 32 withthe barrel members 50 and the pintle 44 lying between the confrontingsurfaces 34.

The hinge butt 22 and the barrel members 50 (as well as the hinge plate24) are advantageously constructed of metal, and for purposes of highstrength and ease of fabrication are preferably cast from iron or steel.Thus, the barrel members 50, after having been located properly upon thehinge butt 22 by virtue of the engagement of the tongues 56 within therespective grooves 54, may be secured in place by welds 58 (see FIGURES6 and 7). The combination of the tongue and groove engagement and thewelds provides an exceptionally strong and rugged securement which willnot only withstand the rigors of service, but will not be easilydisturbed by vandals or thieves. Thus, the end of the pintle 44 areoverlapped by the confronting surfaces 34 and the pintle 44 iscaptivated between the confronting surfaces 34 and may not be easilyremoved to dismantle the hinge; however, when it becomes necessary todismantle the hinge in order to either remove an access door from thecargo container or replace a damaged hinge component, i.e., a bentpintle or a twisted hinge plate, the welds 58 may be ground away torelease the barrel members 50 and allow removal of the pintle 44. Sincemost of the stresses placed upon the connection between the barrelmembers and the hinge butt are borne by the tongues 56 which interengagewith the grooves 54, the welds 58 need not be so heavy as to rendertheir removal exceptionally difficult and may be small enough to assurethat neither the hinge butt 22 nor the barrel members 50 are damaged ordestroyed by such removal of the welds.

The construction of hinge permits the permanent location of a hinge butt22 within a notch 18 without precluding the dismantling of hinge 20,while rendering such dismantling difficult enough to withstand therigors of service and discourage vandalism and theft.

It is to be understood that the above detailed description of anembodiment of the invention is provided by way of example only. Variousdetails of design and construction may be modified without departingfrom the true spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A cargo container hinge comprising:

a hinge butt having confronting laterally extending means spacedlongitudinally from one another;

a hinge plate including at least a portion having a longitudinal extentbetween extremities less than the longitudinal spacing of the laterallyextending means of the hinge butt;

a pintle associated with said poriton of the hinge plate and having endsprojecting longitudinally from the extremities of said portion;

a barrel member juxtaposed with each extremity of said portion of thehinge plate and receiving said projecting ends of the pintle; and

means locating and securing each barrel member upon the hinge butt withthe barrel members and the pintle lying between said laterally extendingmeans to captivate the pintle between the confronting laterallyextending means such that the pintle may be removed by release of thebarrel members from the hinge butt.

2. The cargo container hinge of claim 1,wherein:

said laterally extending means establish confronting longitudinallyspaced surfaces;

said portion of the hinge plate has an extent between said extremitiesless than the longitudinal spacing of the confronting surfaces; and

said confronting surfaces overlap the projecting ends of the pintle tothus captivate the pintle between the confronting surfaces.

3. The cargo container hinge of claim 2 wherein said means locating andsecuring each barrel member upon the hinge butt include:

a tongue integral with the hinge butt adjacent each of said confrontingsurfaces; and

a groove in each barrel member, each said groove being complementary toone of said tongues and each tongue being received within acorresponding groove.

4. The cargo container hinge of claim 3 wherein said means for loactingand securing each barrel member upon the hinge butt includes at leastone Weld aflixing each barrel member to the hinge butt.

5. The cargo container hinge of claim 3 wherein:

the hinge butt is in the form of a unitary body having a mounting baseand said laterally extending means include integral opposite end wallsintegral with the mounting base and projecting perpendicular therefromto render said confronting surfaces parallel to one another;

the hinge plate portion includes a barrel adjacent one end of the hingeplate and having a longitudinally extending bore therethrough;

said pintle is received within said bore and projects beyond the boreadjacent each end of the pintle;

each said barrel member has an opening receiving one end of the pintlesuch that a pair of barrel members are located between the opposite endwalls;

said locating and securing means include a pair of tongues integral withthe hinge butt, each extending perpendicular to the mounting base andperpendicular to one of said confronting surfaces, said tongues beingspaced apart longitudinally a distance corresponding to the location ofthe barrel members, a groove in each barrel member, each said groovebeing complementary to one of said tongues and each tongue beingreceived within a corresponding groove with said end walls juxtaposedwith the barrel members and said confronting surfaces overlapping theends of the pintle, and means securing the barrel members in place uponthe hinge butt with the pintle thus captivated between the end walls.

6. The cargo container hinge of claim 5 wherein said means securing thebarrel members in place include at least one weld affixing each barrelmember to the hinge butt.

No references cited.

BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner D. L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R.

